


Not a Pair of Roller Skates

by keelywolfe



Series: Sportashorts [14]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 15:47:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10643016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelywolfe/pseuds/keelywolfe
Summary: Another day, another foiled plan.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For a-little-drop-of-rain, who needed a little of Robbie saving Sportacus for a change. :)

* * *

Another day, another foiled plan. 

Robbie ignored the song already in the air, carrying the remains of his costume. To be honest, he wasn't even particularly disappointed in a failed plot anymore. At some point, a villain needed to take it in stride and better to think about tomorrow than to wallow in the failures of yesterday. 

Without really thinking about it, Robbie glanced back at the crowd behind him and froze, time seeming to stop. Robbie saw what was going to happen before it did, entirely too late to do anything to stop it. The children were dancing and singing, Sportacus was flipping and flopping around and no one but Robbie saw the roller skate. Only one, the kind that attached to a child's shoe and Robbie couldn't bring Sportacus down but a stray skate was about to and all Robbie could do was watch. 

Sportacus came down on it from a high jump and his yelp was loud enough to carry over the end of the song. He went to the ground with a heavy thud, sprawling on the hard road, lying there dazedly while the kid's startled cries and shouts ended the song on a dissident chorus. 

"Don't move!" Robbie barked. He dropped his costume and dashed over, fell to his knees next to Sportacus "Does your head hurt at all? Your back?"

"No?" Sportacus sounded more dazed than sure and Robbie harrumphed loudly. The children were gathering, all of them babbling out concerns and fears, only falling silent when Robbie snarled at them. "I can't hear him through you, let me help him!"

"Turn your head," Robbie ordered him, "Move your arms." Sportacus did unquestioningly; he didn't so much as flinch as Robbie gently pressed against his ribs and ran his fingers down the back of his head. It was only when he moved lower, testing the solid line of his legs that Sportacus finally gasped. 

"It's just my ankle," he winced, half-sitting up. He settled on his elbows when Robbie glared at him, watching mutely as Robbie moved to kneel at his feet. 

"All right, let me see," Gingerly, he eased Sportacus's boot off and rolled up his pant leg, noted his tight, whitened lips. Under his careful touch, he could already feel the swelling. The children were still shuffling around them, their eyes wide and anxious. "You two," Robbie ordered, pointing at the closest ones, "Go get some ice. A good sized bag if you can, all right? Big enough to put on his ankle."

The pink girl and the blond candy boy both nodded and ran off in the direction of the houses. The other two hadn't twitched a step and seemed to be waiting for orders from Robbie. He glanced down at Sportacus, who hadn't moved, and he was watching Robbie, too, blue eyes expectant. 

Robbie coughed, suddenly awkward. He hadn't even thought before he'd run over and now that it was apparent that Sportacus wasn't badly hurt, he was a little at a loss. "Um, here you two, let's help him over to the bench?"

The kids surged forward eagerly and between the three of them, they were able to get Sportacus to his feet, well, foot, and hobbled over to the bench. Frankly, Robbie thought it would have been easier _without_ the children helping; Sportacus wasn't particularly heavy and the addition of two eager children made it more like a bizarre seven-legged race than anything. Still, they made it to the bench in due time and helped Sportacus stretch out his leg across the length of it. 

"We need something to prop your ankle up," Robbie muttered, almost to himself. 

"Here," the boy in yellow piped up. He offered up a piggy bank and everyone but Robbie made a noise of surprise. 

"Stingy, that's very kind of you," Sportacus said and despite his obvious pain, he seemed pleased.

"That'll work," Robbie agreed. He stripped off his vest and folded it to set on top as a cushion and carefully propped Sportacus's foot on it. With gentle fingers, he peeled off the sock, absently noting that Sportacus had very nice feet. He would have thought with all the running and exercise they would be a mess of calluses and ingrown toenails. But no, nothing but soft skin under Robbie's fingers and tidy little toes. His ankle, on the other hand, was visibly swollen and Robbie could feel the dull heat coming off it. "You probably need this X-rayed but I don't think it's broken. A sprain, maybe."

"It's not broken," Sportacus said quietly. He sounded odd and Robbie realized he was still cradling Sportacus's bare foot in his hands. Gingerly, he settled it on the piggy-prop, jerked his head defiantly and looking at Sportacus with narrowed eyes, daring him to say something. Sportacus only shrugged a little. "I've been hurt often enough, I can tell."

Sportacus was still looking at him and Robbie resisted the urge to squirm. "What?"

"Thank you for helping me, Robbie," Sportacus said, softly sincere. 

Robbie stiffened automatically, jerking his hands away from where they still rested on his ankle. "Well, I…of course I helped," Robbie snapped, "You thought I'd just leave you there with a possibly broken ankle and no one to help but a few kids?"

"No," Sportacus denied. "I never thought that." He smiled and Robbie had to swallow hard. Every emotion Sportacus felt was always as obvious in his expression as it would have been written on his forehead. Gratitude, yes, pain still tight around his eyes and…Robbie didn't want to identify the tender emotion he could see, didn't want to focus on the softness of his eyes, his smile. 

The distant sound of children shouting broke the moment and Robbie jerked his eyes away, tracking the noise. The pink and blond children were returning, both of them carrying a fair sized bag of ice. The other two kids were running to join them and help, and Robbie had forgotten they were even there. He wondered sourly what they had made of that little exchange and shook his head. 

Better not to think about it. 

The four of them returned, chattering excitedly, and Robbie ignored it all, lifting the ice away from the children. He settled it around Sportacus's propped ankle, mumbling an apology as Sportacus gasped and winced. 

"Twenty minutes on and then take it off," Robbie cautioned, "You should probably wrap it. I don't suppose you carry bandages in that backpack of yours?"

Sportacus shook his head, "I have them in my ship."

"Lots of good they'll do you up there," Robbie snorted, "Stay here, I have plenty."

He started to turn away, startled when a hand caught on his elbow. Not Sportacus, a child's hand and he looked down with some bewilderment at the blond child. He had wide eyes and a lollipop and he gave Robbie a sunny smile.

"You saved Sportacus!" he pronounced with glee. "Thank you!"

"No, I—" Robbie began, weakly. He hadn't saved anyone, just…just helped a little. Anyone would have helped; even a _villain_ wasn't going to leave someone to lay there hurt. 

"You did!" The pink child chirped and the rest of them chimed in agreement, yes, yes, Robbie had saved Sportacus, intermixed with an occasional cry that _my_ piggy helped too. Something tight started to close in on Robbie's throat, stifling his breathing, and he couldn't...

"Kids," Sportacus broke in, a touch sternly, and instantly they fell silent. Forget handstands and backflips, one had to admire that kind of power. "Robbie was going to get me a bandage, let's let him do that, all right?"

"Yes, yes," Robbie muttered, "Bandages." He took off at a brisk walk, stopping to scoop up his costume. Bandages, that was all, he'd wrap Sportacus's ankle and be done with this. He pretended he didn't feel the weight of Sportacus's eyes on his back as he walked away, pretended he didn't remember the feel of his foot cradled in Robbie's hands or the length of him pressed to Robbie when he helped him to the bench. Pretending he hadn't noticed that Sportacus smelled like those apples he was always eating.

Ankle and done, Robbie scolded himself mentally. Then it was back to planning for tomorrow. Next time would be the one, next time he'd chase Sportacus out of town. 

And he wouldn't need a roller skate to do it.

-finis-


End file.
